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Man Who Stole Obama's Telelprompter Brought to Justice

In October of 2011, a truck containing President Obama’s speech accoutrements — a presidential seal, podium, audio equipment, and, most importantly, his teleprompter — was stolen from a Virginia parking lot. “The Great Pane Robbery” culminated in a record setting number of headlines like “Obama’s teleprompter stolen; President left speechless.”

At first, a peculiar ransom note made it appear to be an inside job, but the person who stole TOTUS instead turned out to be a career private sector thief who is now headed to prison:

A career criminal who stole a truck containing President Obama’s audio equipment was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison.

Sentencing guidelines called for a term of about three years, but Eric Brown of Richmond, Va., agreed to the longer sentence to avoid prosecution for 14 similar truck thefts in three localities. However, he could still face charges in Stafford County, which did not join Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties in the agreement.

Brown pleaded guilty in January to theft of government property.

“The theft of government property is a serious offense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Roderick Young said in court. “It’s all the more serious when the property belongs to the White House Communications Agency.”

Let this stand as a lesson to anyone who might even consider stealing the mojo of the greatest orator the world has ever known.